The Gunn Robotics Team (GRT) held their Capitol Steps fundraiser in Spangenberg Theater on May 17 at 4 and 7 p.m. The event was open to the public.

Capitol Steps is a political satire group based in the East Coast that GRT has invited to perform at Gunn for the past three years. According to junior Vikram Sunder, the group was easy to contact and funny. “It was like SNL in music form,” he said. “There were some very good segments.” Junior Kyle Lian added that the show was targeted towards older people in the liberal area.

During intermission, GRT members displayed seven robots built from past years, including the G-Force ’09, which placed second at the Silicon Valley Regional and was the first seed in Hawaii. “The G-Force ‘09 picks up balls off the ground, which are sent through a series of belts, then fired at a high speed from the upper turret,” junior Sam Neff said. “The turret can get up to 270 degree rotation, and uses a camera for automatic targeting.”

Most of the money raised from this event will go towards the GRT general fund. “It covers about a third to a half of our budget,” event organizer senior Michael Buchman said. According to Sunder, the money earned helps to pay for tournament entrance fees and building material costs. GRT advisor Bill Dunbar added that additional funding also comes from corporate sponsorships.

Overall, Dunbar was very pleased with the event. “The students did a spectacular job organizing and setting up,” he said. “I’m very proud of them.”